cold oil leak?

[Mike Wilkerson]

I recently bought a 2004 S type in good condition and have been getting up to speed on it.  So far I have only changed the wiper blades and engine and cabin air filters.  When changing the cabin air filter I noticed that the old one was a charcoal filter but due to allergies I replaced it with the particle filter.

Now on every cold startup I smell burning Oil until it warms up and then it is all good.  I can not see any Oil leaks and am wondering what might be causing this.  TIA.

[JustBadly]

The intake manifold flap gaskets are shot. This drops breather Oil onto the (R) exhaust manifold. Replace the 2 gaskets or better still, fit an Oil catch tank to the engine breather line.

[Mike Wilkerson]

Err, flap gaskets?  Where are they located? 

[Mike Wilkerson]

After searching in the car and online it appears that a NAS 2004 3.0 v6 does not have flapper valves anywhere near engine Oil.  They are on the back of the intake manifold.  Unless there is something else I am unaware of it is looking like the back of the valve cover is leaking, but only when it is cold.

[JustBadly]

Those are the ones! Breather Oil pools inside the inlet manifold and drops onto the top of the valve cover and then onto the exhaust manifold. The valve cover is not leaking.

[Mike Wilkerson]

Ok, just to be sure, we are talking about the intake manifold tuning valves.  They don't look too hard to get to once the windshield wipers, plastic cover, and brace are removed.

[LairdScooby]

8 hours ago, JustBadly said:

Those are the ones! Breather oil pools inside the inlet manifold and drops onto the top of the valve cover and then onto the exhaust manifold. The valve cover is not leaking.

Maybe i'm being thick here but i can't see how what you're suggesting can happen - can you explain please?

[JustBadly]

1. Air intake has engine breather tube. 2. Gases from engine contain vapours from combustion. 3. This condenses inside the inlet manifold creating an oily liquid, over time it accumulates enough to pass the gasket. Place your hand underneath the back of the inlet manifold, if it's wet with 'oil' there's the problem. Ideally set up a catch tank to contain this before it enters the inlet manifold, they are cheap enough. This is mine on the 2.5v6 (which is easier to do).

[LairdScooby]

Thanks for that explanation, i'll have to go through mine and see if there are any imminent problems but given the general behaviour of the engine, i'd say not.

I do keep an eye on the breathers on all my cars though, it's wasted horsepower and fuel having them blocked.

[Mike Wilkerson]

I ordered o-rings for those flapper valves and am just waiting for them and clear weather. 

When I was looking around checking things out the car sat in the driveway for 2 hours or so.  After i moved it out there was a puddle of Oil left behind that was ohhh 15cm/6 inches.  That seems like a lot of Oil from a leaky gasket on the intake manifold, but did not find a leak anywhere else.

I did not see an Oil separator anywhere.  There is the pcv valve and its hose to the intake, and that's it.  I looked into oil separators.  They cost around $200 but I don't see a clean way to mount one unless the plastic engine cover is removed.

[LairdScooby]

4 hours ago, Mike Wilkerson said:

There is the pcv valve and its hose to the intake, and that's it. 

Might be worth cleaning that out using caarb/air intake cleaner or even renewing the PCV valve to reduce the pressure the Oil is being blown up by. A 6" diameter puddle of Oil won't actually be that much, a little goes a long way when it's spread out on the ground but it's still too much really.

[Mike Wilkerson]

It stopped raining!  Got out and looked into things.  The PCV valve seems to work fine and am looking for a good place to mount an Oil separator.  In front of the PCV valve I found a hole with a rubber plug in it.  This looks like a dandy place to put the drain tube and the only down side is that it is right next to a coil.  Does this look like a good spot?  The Oil separator will be a Moroso of 4" x 3".

[Mike Wilkerson]

It's been a while.  I eventually bought an Oil separator and installed it.  Before that I installed a new PCV valve and that made a difference in how it ran, for about 3 weeks.  Got an Oil separator with a filter and drain valve and got it installed, and it makes a difference.  It runs smoother around town and seems to have a little more power.  Then did some searching and found out the PCV system on these engines is considered their weakest link. 

[JustBadly]

That's really good. The black fluid (it isn't oil) mixed with petrol and burnt, lowers the octane rating with its associated problems. I used a vapour condenser can and set it up on the right side so's to enable easy disposal of the waste fluid.

[Mike Wilkerson]

Thanks.  Most of the Oil separators or catch cans are in kit form set up for specific cars.  I could not find one for Jaguars so ended up using this one for a Ford Fusion.  It is set up for 1/2 inch hose and the Jaguar uses 5/8 inch hose, so adapters are needed.  It has a filter in it and a little push style drain valve in the bottom.  It is a bit of a reach to get to but it works well and is mostly hidden.